Block Feature: Mods cannot block players.
complete
Mischief
Hi again!
This might be a bit of a controversial one and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.
The block feature allows players to block moderators. Since mods will be able to still send official messages anyways, that seems fair enough. Even if it was implemented that a player who blocks someone can't message that person (mod in this case) anymore, they could unblock them if the need arises to be able to reach out again.
Moderators being able to block players, though, could create issues. While the mod could still always reach out to the player (via official messages), the player would have no way to contact the moderator. Imagine they run into a big issue and need help urgently (e. g. safety related stuff), and the only mod who appears online has them blocked. No way of quick contact then. And with the block feature not telling the player they are blocked, they couldn't even tell if their message went through at all.
Maybe one day, we'll have a mod ticket box where anyone can send in a ticket at any time and it immediately shows up to all moderators regardless of who has whom blocked. But until then, messaging a moderator is the quickest way to get help or alert the team of urgent issues. I'd like for the mods to be approachable.
Therefore, I propose that at least for the time being, moderators cannot block players.
Admin
complete
Oratrix
in progress
SyndicatePhoenix
I was about to comment on this. Players being able to block moderators made me chuckle a bit (reminds me of SSOs catastrophic moderation attempt failure that had this very issue lol), and...I agree, players should NOT be able to block mods.If they can,how are mods supposed to well...mod,and remind them of rules (and if needed,send a PM to the player explaining a rule) if they have been blocked? XD
Normal users should not be able to block mods, forum moderators or admins (basically anyone that is treated as higher hierarchy by the system).
If a mod is seen problematic to the point a user wants to block them, reporting that mod would be better action than blocking them. I agree with Isolde: a mod should not be able to block a normal user, and a user should not be block a mod or admin.
As for a possible self-defense option for mods in case of spam-floods...maybe instead of block, mods could have a "mute" button instead?
Mute option would do the following:
* the muted players pm would still go through, but also put a cooldown on them. Lets say muted player can send a PM every 5-15min (spam prevention )
* PMs from muted players dont go to the "inbox" category, but rather "muted conversations" category. This way,the PMs from muted players wouldn't flood mods main inbox and PMs
*muted players can be unmuted at any time of course
(the word "muted" would become bolded if there are unread PMs there).
Phoenyx_Rising
SyndicatePhoenix: In regards to if a player has a mod blocked and the mod needs to send a message. We now have a check box to send "Official" messages, and they bypass the block. However, I do find mods being able to block players a bit troubling, a mute might work.
Admin
under review